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Pandemonium, the video age. Commercials flash from channel to channel.
The format of this page remembers when the video age came to our local skate scene. Skateboarding is always a desperate business of making do with what’s available; the first skate footage we captured was with our friend Scott’s porter pack video camera capturing footage of him and myself skating at my families 9ft transition x 16 backyard halfpipe. The highlight of the early footage rather than the skating being Scott's stack which gave me the opportunity to work in some time passing conventions that I had learnt at High School media studies; such as the blowing of the wind and the sway of trees (as if to say he languors groaning on the flat bottom for longer than he actually did). Livening things up was the arrival of Jon and Murray to proceedings with a Mountain Rampesque sexually charged performance. The very theme of this backyard ramp remembered my high school media animation collaboration with Neil called; “a Day in the Garden''. It was all supposed to be very savoury and nice but in the tradition of “the Red and the Blue”; mishap is unsaid imperative and it was just as well and even in the nick of time when the tape ran out. We also captured some footage of Jamie Myers backyard ramp with Jamie, Rick, Bruce Matthews and I in attendance and Mitch mid filming turning up. Scott and I shared the taped spoils and time moved on.
Perhaps it was in anticipation of the Alva Boys visit to Perth or maybe it was in the hope preserving times shared at the reborn Roslie Park ramp relocated from El Caballo to the much closer to home Westside BMX in Balcatta than I again entreated a friend to use a video camera. This time it was my brother's school friend and skater Nathan who’s dad had a more modern handy-cam. In any case, the Westrack ramp was where we got out early footage. Chris and Grant Eastland and Jan were there for some of those skates along with our own theme team Earwig members; Ross, Mitch, Jon, Nathan, Jamie and myself. Another tape we filmed was a street skating trip in ramp downtime to Scarborough where we filmed clock tower skates and other antics. Did we film later era backyard ramp footage? Can’t be sure as tapes were limited and much of the footage was about to be taped over. We mistrusted VCRs as we heard stories of their self-destructing if anyone attempted an act of video piracy. Transferring the footage to a large format cassette seemed an unacceptable risk. (Kind of a half-truth here; I used our VCR to make pirate copies of a few hired skate videos and I made a few audio cassette recordings of skate movies too...just saying).
The event of a ramp competition was the next subject of our filming. Memorably among the spectators were mum and dad watching from the car but they drove off when Darren Karra and Jan started up with; “Mike, Mike he’s our man!” chants whenever it was my run. In a way, I think their behaviour was okay but maybe I did take events a little too seriously, but I expect they were sorry to upset mum and dad. Maybe it was just tired anyway considering The El Caballo comp had gone a bit pear-shaped as did the Maddington comp. If there was reason to boycott this comp I don’t recall it other than it was not ASA sanctioned. Aside from the politics, it wasn’t a bad era for us as our vert skills were coming along and the Eastlands putting up some sound competition. Brett Margeretis was present but in an age division younger than us so not really a worry. What was memorable about it was us getting mixed up on who had won what. When I got called up as results were revealed I thought I had won and said in my victory speech; “I want to thank (etc etc)...and I don’t smoke”. Yul Brena had urged us not to do it and in the context of tobacco for me this was still somewhat true. But along with my half-truth (which was more like a quarter truth), this perhaps deservingly crashed and burned as I was informed; “that's great Mike...but, you didn’t win”. Woohoo said my brother Jon as he prepared to give his speech.…“sorry, Jon” they said …” but you didn’t win either”. Apparently earlier someone had been around and had put in their run? I puffed a bummed cigarette in the background as a general air of confusion rose and with a few last shrugs and raised eyebrows the day's footage closed. In the end, as whoever it was were not present; Jon was issued with the winning trophy and I with second place, In accordance with a shared feeling of mis-acception, we swapped awards as we walked up the newly graded dusty track…...how were we going to get home now anyway? So it was that our three tapes were filled and it may have been weeks or a month before the arrival of the Alva Boys in town We watched the footage when having skate breaks.
They watched it when they surprisingly visited to check out what we filmed the first night of “Pandemonium”, but it would be its last screening as we needed tape space to film day two.
An afterthought is when they said someone had already put in the winning run; did they mean our dad? He was here before and it was a fairly winning effort to oversee and do much of the building of the backyard ramp. Apt then I suppose then to date the trophy has put in the most hours stashed amongst stuff in his shed. I expect they actually meant Brett was skating before. I seem to recall this would be the last time he would be excluded from the open division by age and last of days before access to the Surfrider ramp (and a crazy assortment of other super hot halfpipes) where and when his skills really took off.
Maybe it was the “skate martian” who built Chin Ramps who had paid a visit? Perhaps “Paranormal” was a considered title for the upcoming “Cool sports industries” Expo at the Entertainment Centre? Like an alien abduction had taken place; nobody remembers it quite like me. As the holder of the tapes, nobody has seen what was filmed as many times as me and perhaps to a similar degree forgotten what “else” went on. It’s on the basis of I remember better that I could base my telling of what happened at “Pandemonium”; the time the Alva skate team came to Perth, but for now it’s time I got back to the subject at hand.
 Eddie Reategui, Dave Duncan and John Gibson at the street set up at the Pandemonium demos 1988 |
 John Gibson backside air |
I was discussing what this web page references.
So, we went on to film two days of skating. Like I said; I’m brainwashed so I don’t recall if there were actually three days. From those two tapes, I edited together an introduction with the soundtrack of Jimi Hendrix’s version of Star-Spangled Banner. Done in slow motion it didn’t immediately cut to the skating. A Letraset title stated the subject was the 1988 Pandemonium event with team Alva in 1988 or something like. Cut to one of the Alva skaters signing event T-Shirts. Slow-motion gave an interesting crackling effect. Cut to the ice skating display that was set up for the exhibition where the lady did a pirouette jump on the ice. Then I scrolled through the names of the skaters present from the Alva team probably with not a few typos and inaccuracies. As if on cue Jimi Hendrix wah-wahs an incoming ambulance as if people might be dying of boredom or something if I didn’t get to the good stuff. Finally to some skating and possibly first appearing through the rolling static was John Gibson with a handplant; a feat accentuated with the sporadic interruption of camera flashes. If there were the time it would beg to ask where are all these photos today? I recall hearing that many photos and slides submitted to mags over east were collected and stored only to be destroyed in a factory fire. Even as I ponder this, it must make way as from the spluttering flotsam of my recollection next appeared the silhouette form of Eddie Reategui also with a handplant...this one more stalled before it collapsed and is lost into the vision of the stoked onlookers and spotlight glare. Lastly, this time on the other side of the ramp from the camera (and still in slow motion) erupts sunburst style the dreadlocked form of Jim Murphy with a barbaric slob air suiting well the implied climactic ticker tape applause as the anthem finishes a hard-earned march to glory. The effort literally gets peer acclaim as Jeff Hartsel observes; “Murf is skating out of control!”.
And that’s the most recent of memories. The history of the tapes is they stayed stashed unwatched in my draw for quite a few years. If the Americans had marched to glory; I had established myself as a bit of a terrorist. I wanted the understanding that the footage would be preserved, but as if dealing with a terrorist; Nathan would not enter into any negotiation or make any concession. So, in the end, I spooled some blank tape onto the compact cassettes and returned them that way. I spooled the actual footage onto the tail ends of large VHS cassettes which actually worked fine. The footage was watchable again. Seems kind of like a rad thing to do seeing as it was his dad's camera, but I went to Nathan about doing some filming rather than him first having the idea, so I felt as if I had some claim on the footage. If he had imparted any sort of plan of preservation I would have handed it over then.
The first tape left me shortly after I edited the intro after I had moved down south in the early/mid-1990s. It might have been accidentally thrown away when it damaged someone's VCR? ...maybe I gave the tape away. The second tape I rediscovered after I moved back to Perth and to my best memory I gave away but I’m not clear anymore on who to. The intro stayed with me the longest but was on a cassette with some other footage I had edited and put a soundtrack to. As far as I can recall I threw this away out of frustration/temper. Perhaps even this I did not consider myself worthy to bear. Perhaps I’m wrong...sometimes stuff just got taped over.
It’s surprising though the degree that this event has gone off the radar. To an online sharing degree, it seems like nobody has the mag photos published or the good quality pictures that were taken on the day. What became of even the event T-Shirts? From memory maybe Tony Alva but also many others came to the decision that this was an event experienced then and there and that was it. T-Shirts might have served to cause frustration in those who missed it...maybe a good idea not to distribute them. Maybe it’s from this kind of conclusion that Nathan drew his unco-operation. Perhaps I made myself unpopular for not handing over the footage perhaps even only for its destruction then.
Given this; I withhold my further telling until someone would like to hear or a few more contributions arrive. I put out a few requests to people I recalled were there for photos to publish at this page and add to the meagre stash and one friend got back with a couple of scans. Here they are; published chaotically as a part of my (unco) Operation; “Para-normal”.
Contact rule.michael@gmail.com
pandemonium Learn to pronounce noun wild and noisy disorder or confusion; uproar. "there was complete pandemonium—everyone just panicked"
 John Gibson skates at the Pandemonium Perth Entertainment Centre demos 1988 |
 Jon Rule skates at the Pandemonium Perth Entertainment Centre demos 1988 |
 Mike Rule (um...that's me!) skates at the Fremantle Aquatic Centre halfpipe 1989 |
Romans 12:2 NIV
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
NIV: New International Version
2021 update pictures added